Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has asked Bad Bunny to perform a free concert in Mexico City after hundreds of fans were turned away at his show over the weekend following another debacle with Ticketmaster.
Obrador offered the Puerto Rican rapper and singer – born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – some resources for a show in Zocalo square, a plaza in the Mexican capital.
I asked Bad Bunny, I know he is overworked and tired because he works a lot, but I asked him to consider the possibility of coming to Mexico, to the Zócalo. We can’t pay him. It would have to be a collaboration,’ Obrador said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Giving the people what they want: Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has asked Bad Bunny to perform a free concert in Mexico City after hundreds of fans were turned away at his show over the weekend following another debacle with Ticketmaster
While Obrador said he would be unable to compensate Bad Bunny, 28, for the show, he said the government would be able to pay for the lighting, stage, sound system, and even a zip line.
‘I would tell him how deeply we were touched to see young people sad because they couldn’t get in, because they had duplicate tickets, because they were victims of fraud,’ he continued.
The request came several days after hundreds of fans were left sad and disappointed after being turned away from Bad Bunny’s sold-out show in Mexico City on Friday night.
They were the latest to have issues with distribution giant Ticketmaster.
Making his request: Obrador offered the Puerto Rican rapper and singer – born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – some resources for a show in Zocalo square, a plaza in the Mexican capital; pictured 2020
Full house: The request came several days after hundreds of fans were left sad and disappointed after being turned away from Bad Bunny’s sold-out show in Mexico City on Friday night; pictured December 9, 2022
Vulture reported that hundreds of attendees were denied access to the venue Estadio Azteca, which has the ability to hold 87,000 people. Fans were allegedly informed by the venue that their tickets were invalid.
In addition, the general admission portion of the stadium appeared half full minutes before the musician appeared on stage.
Many disappointed and angry fans reported spending hours traveling to the Azteca Stadium in the Mexican capital, and paying out hundreds of dollars for a ticket.
West Observer is reporting that one fan said they had purchased their rejected ticket directly from Ticketmaster.
‘I paid more than 9,000 pesos for the ticket at Ticketmaster (about $455) so that they tell me that my ticket is fake!’
Tickets: Vulture reported that hundreds of attendees were denied access to the venue Estadio Azteca, which has the ability to hold 87,000 people. Fans were allegedly informed by the venue that their tickets were invalid
Time and money: Many fans traveled from far distances and spent hundreds of dollars for a chance to see the Ojitos Lindos singer perform, only to be turned away.
Ticketmaster Mexico subsequently apologized and said affected fans would be given a full refund.
‘The venue Estadio Azteca released a statement of its own that said any ticket that was duplicated became invalid, causing those with tickets bought from Ticketmaster to be cancelled,’ writes Vulture.
Mexico’s consumer protection agency has since announced an investigation.
No comment: The 28-year-old Efecto singer, who was named Apple Music’s Artist of the Year, has not made any comment so far
Ticketmaster Mexico said the event was highly sought-after but denied the concert was oversold. A company statement said 4.5 million requests had been received for just 120,000 available seats. Fakes then kept some legitimate ticket holders from getting in, it said.
‘On Friday, an unprecedented number of false tickets, not bought through our official channels, were presented at the gates,’ the company said, adding that noting the situation at the entrances caused ‘temporary interruptions in the ticket reading system, which unfortunately momentarily impeded recognition of legitimate tickets.’
This is the latest incident of bad publicity for Ticketmaster.
More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans are suing the outlet and its parent company, Live Nation, accusing them of fraud, misrepresentation and antitrust violations over its botched Eras Tour ticket sale.
An attorney for the Swifties, as Taylor’s fans are known, told NPR as many as 400 fans have shown an interest in joining the court case seeking $2500 for each violation under California’s Unfair Competition Law.
The US Justice Department and several state Attorneys General are also looking into Ticketmaster’s practices.
Investigation: The US Justice Department and several state Attorneys General are also investigating Ticketmaster’s practices
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